Method for manufacturing a thin film transistor array panel for a liquid crystal display and a photolithography method for fabricating thin films

ABSTRACT

A gate wire including a plurality of gate lines and gate electrodes in the display area, and gate pads in the peripheral area is formed on a substrate having a display area and a peripheral area. A gate insulating layer, a semiconductor layer, an ohmic contact layer and a conductor layer are sequentially deposited, and the conductor layer and the ohmic contact are patterned to form a data wire including a plurality of data lines, a source electrode and a drain electrode of the display area and data pads of the peripheral area, and an ohmic contact layer pattern thereunder. A passivation layer is deposited and a positive photoresist layer is coated thereon. The photoresist layer is exposed to light through one or more masks having different transmittance between the display area and the peripheral area. The photoresist layer is developed to form a photoresist pattern having the thickness that varies depending on the position. At this time, a thin portion and a thick portion of the photoresist pattern are provided for the display area, and a thick portion and a zero thickness portion for the peripheral area. In the peripheral area, the portions of the passivation layer, the semiconductor layer and the gate insulating layer on the gate pads, and the portions of the passivation layer on the data pads, under the zero thickness portion, are removed. In the display area, the thin portion of the photoresist pattern, and the portions of the passivation layer and the semiconductor layer thereunder are removed but the portions of the passivation layer under the thick portions of the photoresist pattern is not removed. Then, a plurality of pixel electrodes, redundant gate pads and redundant data pads are formed.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

(a) Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a thin filmtransistor (TFT) panel for a liquid crystal display (LCD) byphotolithography and a photolithography method for fabricating thinfilms, especially to a method to reduce the number of photolithographysteps in manufacturing a TFT panel for an LCD.

(b) Description of the Related Art

An LCD (liquid crystal display) is one of the most popular FPDs (flatpanel displays). The LCD has two panels having two kinds of electrodesfor generating electric fields and a liquid crystal layer interposedtherebetween. The transmittance of incident light is controlled by theintensity of the electric field applied to the liquid crystal layer.

The field-generating electrodes may be formed at each of the panels, orat one of the panel. The panel having at least one kind of theelectrodes has switching elements such as thin film transistors.

In general, a TFT (thin film transistor) array panel of an LCD includesa plurality of pixel electrodes and TFTs controlling the signalssupplied to the pixel electrodes. The TFT array panel is manufactured byphotolithography using a plurality of photomasks, and it goes throughfive or six photolithography steps to complete the TFT array panel. Thehigh costs and long time that the photolithography process bears makesit desirable to reduce the number of the photolithography steps.

Several manufacturing methods of LCDs using only four photolithographysteps are suggested such as in Korean Patent Application No. 1995-189('189). The corresponding U.S. patent is U.S. Pat. No. 5,818,551. In themeantime, since an LCD actually requires wires for transmitting electricsignals to the TFTs and wire pads for receiving the signals fromoutside, the full process to complete a TFT array panel requires thestep of forming the pads. However, '189 does not disclose how to formthe pads.

Other conventional method of manufacturing a TFT array panel using fourphotolithography steps is disclosed in “A TFT Manufactured by 4 MasksProcess with New Photolithography (Chang Wook Han et al., Proceedings ofThe 18th International Display Research Conference Asia Display 98, pp.1109-1112, 1998. 9.28-10.1).

Meanwhile, a storage capacitor for sustaining the voltage applied to apixel is generally provided in the TFT array panel, and the storagecapacitor includes a storage electrode and a portion of a pixelelectrode as well as a passivation layer interposed therebetween. Thestorage electrode is made of the same layer as a gate wire, and theportion of the pixel electrode is formed on the passivation layer. Thestorage electrode is covered with a gate insulating layer, asemiconductor layer and a passivation layer, and most portion of thepixel electrode is formed directly on the substrate in Han et al.Therefore, the pixel electrode should step up the triple layers of thegate insulating layer, the semiconductor layer and the passivationlayer, in order to overlap the storage electrode. It may cause adisconnection of the pixel electrode near the high step-up area.

In the meantime, as shown in '189, the conventional photolithographyprocess uses a photoresist (PR) layer. The conventional photoresistlayer is exposed to light through a photomask and divided into twosections, one exposed to the light and the other not exposed. Thedevelopment of the photoresist layer forms the PR pattern having auniform thickness with the PR layer exposed to the light removed.Accordingly, the etched thickness of the layers under the PR pattern isalso uniform. However, Han et al. uses a photomask having a grid, whichlowers the amount of light reaching the portion of a positive PR layerthereunder, to form a PR pattern having thinner portions than the otherportions. The different thickness of the PR pattern produces thedifferent etching depth of the underlying layers.

Therefore, Han et al. has a problem in forming the grid throughout awide region, and it is hard to make the etching depth uniform under thegrid region, even though the grid is formed throughout the wide region.

U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,231,811, 5,618,643, and 4,415,262 and Japanese patentpublication No. 61-181130, etc., which disclose similar methods as Hanet al., have the same problem.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is therefore an object of the present invention to suggest a novelmethod for manufacturing thin films using photolithography.

It is another object of the present invention to simplify themanufacturing method of a TFT array panel for an LCD, thereby reducingthe manufacturing cost and increasing the productivity.

It is another object of the present invention to etch thin films to adifferent uniform depths depending on the position, at the same time.

These and other objects are provided, according to the presentinvention, by forming a contact hole for a gate pad along with at leastone other layer.

According to the present invention, a gate wire including a plurality ofgate lines, gate electrodes and gate pads, is formed on a substratehaving a display area and a peripheral area. A gate insulating layerpattern is formed thereon. A semiconductor pattern is formed on the gateinsulating layer, and a ohmic contact pattern is formed on thesemiconductor pattern. Then, a data wire including data lines, sourceand drain electrodes located on the display area, and data pads locatedon the peripheral area is formed thereon. A passivation layer forchannel is formed and a plurality of pixel electrodes connected to thedrain electrodes are formed. At this time, the gate insulating layerpattern is formed along with at least one other layer through aphotolithography process using a photoresist pattern of which thicknessis varying according to location.

It is preferable that the photoresist pattern has a first portionlocated at the position corresponding to the gate pad, a second portionwhich is thicker than the first portion and located in the display area,and a third portion which is thicker than the second portion.

The photoresist pattern is formed on the passivation layer. The gateinsulating layer pattern, the semiconductor layer pattern and thepassivation layer pattern are formed by etching the passivation layerand the semiconductor layer under the first portion of the photoresistpattern, and the second portion of the photoresist pattern at the sametime. Then, the second portion of the photoresist pattern to expose thepassivation layer thereunder is removed by an ashing process, etchingthe passivation layer and the gate insulating layer to expose thesemiconductor layer under the first portion and to form a first contacthole exposing the gate pad under the first portion by using thephotoresist pattern as an etch mask, and removing the semiconductorlayer under the second portion by using the photoresist pattern as anetch mask.

At this time, a second contact hole exposing the data pad may be formedin the step of etching passivation layer and the semiconductor layerunder the first portion or forming the first contact hole. A thirdcontact hole exposing the drain electrode may be formed in the step offorming the first contact hole or etching the passivation layer and thesemiconductor layer under the first portion. The etching step of thepassivation layer and the semiconductor layer may be performed by a dryetch of using SF₆+O₂ or SF₆+HCl as an etch gas, and the ashing processmay be performed by using N₂+O₂ or O₂+Ar gas. The semiconductor layermay be made of amorphous silicon, and the first contact hole may beformed by using one of such gases as SF₆+O₂, SF₆+N₂, CF₄+O₂ andCF₄+CHF₃+O₂, which have a high etch selectivity between the passivationlayer and the semiconductor layer. The semiconductor layer may beremoved by a dry etch using Cl₆+O₂ or SF₆+HCl+Ar+O₂ as an etch gas. Aredundant gate pad and a redundant data pad respectively covering thegate pad and the data pad is formed while forming the pixel electrode.

A gate wire, including gate lines, gate electrodes and gate pads, isformed on a substrate. A gate insulating layer pattern covering the gatewire except for at least a part of the gate pad, a semiconductor layerpattern, a ohmic contact layer pattern are formed on the gate wire. Adata wire, including data lines, source and drain electrodes and datapads, is formed on the ohmic contact layer pattern. A passivation layerpattern and pixel electrodes are formed thereon. At this time, the gateinsulating layer pattern is formed along with at least one of suchpatterns as the semiconductor pattern, the ohmic contact layer pattern,the data wire, the passivation layer pattern and the pixel electrodethrough a photolithography process. The photolithography processcomprises the steps of coating a photoresist layer, exposing thephotoresist layer through a photomask having a first part, a second partand a third part of which transmittance are different from each otherand developing the photoresist layer to form a photoresist pattern. Theexposing step may be done by using two kinds of photomask. The firstphotomask has a first part and a second part having a highertransmittance than that of the first part, and the second photomask hasa third part of which transmittance is higher than that of the firstpart but lower than that of the second part and a fourth part of whichtransmittance is the same as that of the first part. At this time, thetransmittance of the second part of the photomask is 20% to 60% of thatof the first part and the transmittance of the third part is lower than3%. The photomask having a substrate and at least one mask layer, andthe difference of transmittance between the first part and the secondpart is made by using materials having different transmittance ordifferentiating the thickness of the mask layer. The difference oftransmittance may be made by forming slits or a grid pattern smallerthan the resolution of the stepper.

According to the present invention, a new photolithography method ofthin films is provided.

In concrete, at least a thin film is formed on a substrate and aphotoresist layer is coated on the thin film. The photoresist layer isexposed to a light through at least a photomask having more than threepart of which transmittance are different from each other, and developedto form a photoresist pattern of which thickness is varying according tothe location. The thin film is etched along with the photoresistpattern.

A dry etching method and the positive photoresist layer are preferred.

At least a thin film is formed on a substrate, and a photoresist patternwhich has a first portion, a second portion of which thickness isthicker than that of the first portion and a third portion of whichthickness is thicker than that of the second portion is formed on thethin film. The portion of the thin film under the first portion isetched along with the first portion but the second and the third portionprotect the portions of the thin film under them. The photoresistpattern is stripped to expose the thin film under the second portion butleave the third portion to a certain thickness. The exposed portion ofthe thin film is etched but the third portion protects the portion ofthe thin film thereunder.

It is preferable that the stripping step of photoresist pattern isperformed by an ashing process.

Another manufacturing method of a thin film transistor array panel isprovided.

In concrete, a gate wire including a plurality of gate lines, gateelectrodes and gate pads is formed on an insulating substrate. A gateinsulating layer, a semiconductor layer, an ohmic contact layer and aconductor layer are sequentially deposited on the gate wire. Theconductor layer and the ohmic contact layer is patterned byphotolithography to form a data wire including a plurality of datalines, source electrodes, drain electrodes and data pads, and an ohmiccontact layer pattern thereunder. A passivation layer is deposited and aphotoresist layer is coated on the passivation layer. A photoresistpattern of which thickness is varying according to the location isformed by exposure and development. The passivation layer, thesemiconductor layer and the gate insulating layer are etched along withthe photoresist pattern to form a passivation layer pattern, asemiconductor layer pattern, and a gate insulating layer pattern havingcontact holes exposing the gate pads and a none-zero thickness in thedisplay area, and a plurality of pixel electrodes respectively connectedto the drain electrodes is formed on the passivation layer.

At this time, a plurality of redundant gate pads and redundant data padsrespectively covering the gate pads and the data pads may be formed inthe forming step of the pixel electrodes.

A first metal layer is deposited on a substrate and a gate wireincluding a plurality of gate lines and gate pads is formed by a firstphotolithography process. A first insulating layer, a semiconductorlayer, an ohmic contact layer and a second metal layer is deposited onthe gate wire. The second metal layer and the ohmic contact layer arepatterned to form a data wire including a plurality of data lines, datapads, source electrodes and drain electrodes, and an ohmic contact layerpattern thereunder by a second photolithography process. A secondinsulating layer is deposited. The second insulating layer, thesemiconductor layer and the first insulating layer is patterned to forma passivation layer pattern that covers the gate wire, the data wire andthe portions of the semiconductor between the source electrode and thedrain electrode and exposes a portion of the drain electrodes and thedata pads, a semiconductor layer pattern having separated portion atleast on the gate wire, and a gate insulating layer pattern exposing thegate pad by a third photolithography process. A transparent conductorlayer is deposited and patterned to form a plurality of pixel electrodesconnected to the drain electrode, redundant gate pads and redundant datapads respectively covering the gate pads and the data pads.

At this time, the third photolithography process may comprise the stepsof coating a photoresist layer on the second insulating layer andexposing the photoresist layer by using a photomask having at least twoportions, of which transmittance are different from each other. Thethird photolithography process may comprise a development step after theexposure to form a photoresist pattern having at least three differentheights. The third photolithography process may comprise etching step ofthe photoresist pattern, the second insulating layer, the semiconductorlayer and the first insulating layer to remove the first portion whichis the lowest portion, and the second insulating layer, thesemiconductor layer and the first insulating layer thereunder to exposethe gate pads, and to remove the second portion which is higher than thefirst portion, and the second insulating layer and the semiconductorlayer thereunder, but not remove the second insulating layer under thethird portion which is higher than the second portion. The etching stepof the photoresist pattern, the second insulating layer, thesemiconductor layer and the first insulating layer comprises the stepsof etching the second insulating layer, the semiconductor layer and thefirst insulating layer under the first portion of the photoresistpattern by using the second and the third portion as an etch stopper,removing the second portion of the photoresist layer to expose thesecond insulating layer thereunder by ashing process, and etching theexposed portion of the second insulating layer and the semiconductorlayer thereunder by using the third portion of the photoresist layer asan etch stopper. The ashing process is performed by using oxygen.

The transmittance difference of the photomask may be controlled bydifferentiating the thickness of a mask layer. The photomask may beclassified into a first mask for the gate pad and a second mask forelsewhere, and the transmittance of the first mask is different fromthat of the second mask. The pixel electrodes may be formed just on thefirst insulating layer extended from under the data wire or under thedrain electrode. The semiconductor layer may be made of amorphoussilicon. The ohmic contact layer may be made of amorphous silicon dopedwith phosphorus. The transparent conductor layer may be made ofindium-tin-oxide.

A TFT array panel having structure as following is manufactured by themethod described above.

A gate wire including a plurality of gate lines, gate electrodes andgate pads is formed on a insulating substrate, and a gate insulatinglayer having contact holes exposing the gate pads is formed on the gatewire. A semiconductor layer pattern is formed on the gate insulatinglayer, and an ohmic contact layer pattern is formed on the semiconductorlayer pattern. A data wire having a layout substantially the same asthat of the ohmic contact layer pattern and including a plurality ofsource electrodes, drain electrodes, data lines and data pads is formedon the ohmic contact layer pattern. A passivation layer pattern havingcontact holes exposing the gate pad, the data pad and the drainelectrode and having a layout substantially the same as that of thesemiconductor layer pattern except for the portions of the drainelectrode and the data pad is formed on the data wire and has widerlayout. A transparent electrode layer pattern is electrically connectedto the exposed gate pad, data pad and drain electrode.

At this time, at least one portion of the transparent electrode patternmay contact with the gate insulation layer extending from under thedrain electrode. A portion of the semiconductor layer pattern and theohmic contact layer pattern may be formed on the gate line, a storageelectrode may be formed on the ohmic contact layer pattern located onthe gate line, and the storage electrode may be electrically connectedto the transparent electrode pattern. The shape of the gate insulatinglayer may be different from that of the passivation layer pattern in apart where the transparent electrode pattern is formed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a substrate including four TFT arraypanels for LCDs according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a layout view schematically showing a TFT array panel for anLCD according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a layout view of a TFT array panel for an LCD according to afirst embodiment of the present invention, showing an enlarged view of apixel and pads in FIG. 2.

FIGS. 4 and 5 are cross-sectional views of the TFT array panels shown inFIG. 3 taken along the lines IV-IV′ and V-V′ in FIG. 3, respectively.

FIG. 6A is a layout view of a TFT array panel in the first manufacturingstep of a manufacturing method of the LCD shown in FIGS. 3, 4 and 5according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 6B and 6C are respectively the cross-sectional views taken alongthe line VIB-VIB′ and VIC-VIC′ of FIG. 6A.

FIG. 7A is a layout view of a TFT array panel in a manufacturing stepfollowing FIGS. 6A to 6C.

FIGS. 7B and 7C are respectively the cross-sectional views taken alongthe line VIIB-VIIB′ and VIIC-VIIC′ of FIG. 7A.

FIG. 8A is a layout view of a TFT array panel in a manufacturing stepfollowing FIGS. 7A to 7C.

FIGS. 8B and 8C are respectively the cross-sectional views taken alongthe line VIIIB-VIIIB′ and VIIIC-VIIIC′ of FIG. 8A.

FIGS. 9A and 9B, FIGS. 10A and 10B and FIG. 11 are respectively thecross-sectional views of photomasks used in the manufacturing step ofFIGS. 8A to 8C.

FIGS. 12A and 12B are respectively the cross-sectional views taken alongthe line VIIIB-VIIIB′ and VIIIC-VIIIC′ of FIG. 8A in the manufacturingstep following FIGS. 8B and 8C.

FIGS. 13A and 13B are respectively the cross-sectional views taken alongthe line VIIIB-VIIIB′ and VIIIC-VIIIC′ of FIG. 8A in the manufacturingstep following FIGS. 12B and 12C.

FIGS. 14A and 14B are respectively the cross-sectional views taken alongthe line VIIIB-VIIIB′ and VIIIC-VIIIC′ of FIG. 8A in the manufacturingstep following FIGS. 13B and 13C.

FIGS. 15A and 158 are respectively the cross-sectional views taken alongthe line VIIIB-VIIIB′ and VIIIC-VIIIC′ of FIG. 8A in the manufacturingstep following FIGS. 14B and 14C.

FIGS. 16A and 16B are respectively the cross-sectional views taken alongthe line VIIIB-VIIIB′ and VIIIC-VIIIC′ of FIG. 8A in the manufacturingstep following FIGS. 158 and 15C.

FIGS. 17A and 17B are respectively the cross-sectional views taken alongthe line VIIIB-VIIIB′ and VIIIC-VIIIC′ of FIG. 8A in the manufacturingstep following FIGS. 16B and 16C.

FIG. 18 is a layout view of a TFT array panel for an LCD according to asecond embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 19 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line XIX-XIX′ in FIG.18.

FIG. 20A is a layout view of a TFT array panel in a manufacturing stepof the manufacturing method according to the second embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 20B is the cross-sectional view taken along the line XXB-XXB′ inFIG. 20A.

FIGS. 21 and 22 are cross-sectional views taken along the line XXB-XXB′in FIG. 20A, in the next manufacturing steps of FIGS. 20A and 20B.

FIGS. 23A to 23E are cross sectional views of this films manufactured bythe photolithography method according to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The present invention now will be described more fully hereinafter withreference to the accompanying drawings, in which preferred embodimentsof the invention are shown. This invention may, however, be embodied inmany different forms and should not be construed as limited to theembodiments set forth herein. In the drawings, the thickness of layersand regions are exaggerated for clarity. Like numbers refer to likeelements throughout. It will be understood that when an element such asa layer, region or substrate is referred to as being “on” anotherelement, it can be directly on the other element or intervening elementsmay also be present. In contrast, when an element is referred to asbeing “directly on” another element, there are no intervening elementspresent.

In the embodiments of present invention, at least two layers arepatterned at a time to form contact holes exposing gate pads.

Now, a structure of a TFT array panel according to an embodiment of thepresent invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 5.

As shown in FIG. 1, a plurality of panel areas are formed on aninsulating plate 10. For example, as shown in FIG. 1, four panel areas110, 120, 130 and 140 are formed on a glass plate 10. When the panelsare TFT array panels, the panel areas 110, 120, 130 and 140 includedisplay areas 111, 121, 131 and 141 having a plurality of pixels andperipheral areas 112, 122, 132 and 142, respectively. TFTs, wires andpixel electrodes are repeatedly arranged in matrix in the display areas111, 121, 131 and 141, and pads to be connected to external circuits andelectrostatic discharge protection circuits are provided in theperipheral areas 112, 122, 132 and 142.

In general, the elements in the panel areas 110, 120, 130 and 140 areformed by photolithography using a stepper, a kind of exposureequipment. When using the stepper, the display areas 111, 121, 131 and141 and the peripheral areas 112, 122, 132 and 142 are divided intoseveral sections, and a PR layer coated on thin films on the plate 10 isexposed to light section by section through one or more masks. Then, thePR layer is developed, and the thin films under the PR layer is etchedto form thin film patterns. A complete LCD panel is obtained byrepeating the above described patterning step.

FIG. 2 is a layout view of a TFT array panel area shown in FIG. 1according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 2, a plurality of TFTs, a plurality of pixel electrodeselectrically connected thereto and a plurality of wires including gatelines 22 and data lines 62 are formed in the display area surrounded byan imaginary line 1. Gate pads 24 and data pads 64 respectivelyconnected to the gate lines 22 and the data lines 62, and a gateshorting bar 4 and a data shorting bar 5 are formed in the peripheralarea. The gate shorting bar 4 and the data shorting bar 5 connect thewhole gate lines 22 and the whole data lines 62, respectively, and areelectrically connected to each other through a connector 6 to make themin the same potential, thereby protecting the device elements fromelectrostatic discharge failure. The shorting bars 4 and 5 will beremoved by cutting the panel along the cutting line 2. A referencenumeral 7 represents contact holes formed in insulating layers (notshown) interposed between the connector 6 and the shorting bars 4 and 5,and the connector 6 is connected to the shorting bars 4 and 5 throughthe contact holes 7.

FIGS. 3 to 5 are an enlarged view of a TFT array panel shown in FIG. 2according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a layoutview, and FIGS. 4 and 5 are cross-sectional views taken along the linesIV-IV′ and V-V′ in FIG. 3.

A gate wire of metal or conductive material such as aluminum (Al) oraluminum alloy, molybdenum (Mo) or molybdenum-tungsten (MoW) alloy,chromium (Cr) and tantalum (Ta) is formed on an insulating substrate 10.The gate wire includes a plurality of gate lines (scanning signal lines)22 extending in the horizontal direction, a plurality of gate pads 24connected to one ends of the respective gate lines 22 and transmittingthe scanning signals from an external circuit to the gate lines 22, anda plurality of gate electrodes 26 of TFTs, which are branches of thegate lines 22.

The gate wire 22, 24 and 26 may have a multiple-layered structure aswell as a single-layered structure. When the gate wire 22, 24 and 26 hasthe multiple-layered structure, it is preferable that one layer is madeof a material having a low resistivity and another layer is made of amaterial having a good contact with other materials. The double layersof Cr/Al (or Al alloy) and Al/Mo are such examples.

A gate insulating layer 30 of such as silicon-nitride (SiNx) is formedon the gate wire 22, 24 and 26 to cover them.

A semiconductor pattern 42 and 48 made of semiconductor such ashydrogenated amorphous silicon is formed on the gate insulating layer30. An ohmic contact layer pattern 55, 56 and 58 made of amorphoussilicon heavily doped with impurities such as phosphorus is formed onthe semiconductor pattern 42 and 48.

A data wire made of conductive material such as Mo or MoW, Cr, Al or Alalloy and Ta is formed on the ohmic contact layer pattern 55, 56 and 58.The data wire has a data line 62 extending in the vertical direction, adata pad 64 connected to an end of the data line 62 and transmittingimage signals from an external circuit to the data line 62, and a sourceelectrode 65 of a TFT that is a branch of the data line 62. The datawire also has a plurality of drain electrodes 66 of the TFTs, which arelocated opposite to the respective source electrodes with respect to therespective gate electrodes 22 and separated from other data wireelements 62, 64 and 65, and a conductor pattern for storage capacitorswhich includes a plurality of conductor islands 68. Each conductorisland 68 is located over the gate line 22 and overlaps the same. Theconductor island 68 is connected to a pixel electrode 82, which will bedescribed later, to form a storage capacitor. However, if a sufficientstorage capacitance can be achieved by the overlap of the pixelelectrode 82 and the gate line 22, the conductor islands 68 may not berequired.

The data wire 62, 64, 65, 66 and 68 may have a multiple-layeredstructure like the gate wire 22, 24, 26 and 28. Of course, when the datawire has a multiple-layered structure it is preferable that one layer ismade of a material having a low resistivity and another is made of amaterial having a good contact with other materials.

The ohmic contact layer patterns 55, 56 and 58 reduce the contactresistance between the semiconductor pattern 42 and 48 and the data wire62, 64, 65, 66 and 68, and have substantially the same layout as thedata wire 62, 64, 65, 66 and 68. In other words, the first ohmic contactlayer portions 55 under the data wire elements 62, 64 and 65 havesubstantially the same shape as those of 62, 64 and 65, the second ohmiccontact layer portions 56 under the drain electrodes 66 as the drainelectrodes 66, and the third ohmic contact layer portions 58 under theconductor pattern 68 for the storage capacitors as the conductor pattern68 for the storage capacitors.

The semiconductor pattern 42 and 48 has a similar layout to the datawire 62, 64, 65, 66 and 68 and the ohmic contact layer pattern 55, 56and 57 except for the channels of the thin film transistors. In detail,first portions 48 of the semiconductor pattern, the conductor pattern 68for the storage capacitors and the third ohmic contact layer portion 58have the same shape, while second portions 42 of the semiconductorpattern have different shapes from the remaining portions of the datawire 62, 64 and 65 and the ohmic contact layer pattern 55, 56 and 57.The data wire elements 62, 64 and 65, especially the source electrode 65and the drain electrode 66 are separated from each other on the channelof the thin film transistor, and the portions 55 and 56 of the ohmiccontact layer pattern thereunder are also separated from each other,while the semiconductor portion 42 is not divided into two pieces sothat it can make a channel of the thin film transistor. Meanwhile, theportions 42 of semiconductor pattern 42 extend to the peripheral area.

The data wire elements 62, 64 and 65, the drain electrode 66 and thesemiconductor pattern 42 are covered with a passivation layer 70. Thepassivation layer 70 has contact holes 71 and 73 respectively exposingthe drain electrodes 66 and the data pads 64, and contact holes 72exposing the gate pads 24. The passivation layer 70 has wider width thanthe data wire, and covers the boundary lines of the data wire. Thepassivation layer 70 has a planar shape substantially the same as thesemiconductor layer pattern 42 execpt for the portions on the drainelectrode 66 and the data pad 64. The gate lines 22 are not covered withthe passivation layer 70 except for the portions under the data line 62.The passivation layer 70 may be made of an insulating material such asSiNx or acrylic organic material, and covers to protect at least thechannels of the TFTs.

A plurality of pixel electrodes are formed on the portions of the gateinsulating layer 30 surrounded by the gate lines 22 and the data lines62. At this time, the first insulating layer 30 is extended from underthe data wire elements 62, 64 and 65 and the drain electrode 66, andcovers the gate wire 22, 24 and 26 and the substrate 10. The pixelelectrodes 82 are made of a transparent conductive material such as ITO(indium tin oxide). The pixel electrodes 82 are physically andelectrically connected to the respective drain electrodes 66 through thecontact holes 71, and receive the image signals from the drain electrodeto generate electric fields along with an electrode (not shown) of theother panel of the LCD. The pixel electrode 82 extends to and is alsophysically and electrically connected to the conductor island 68, andmakes a storage capacitor along with the gate line 22 thereunder.

A plurality of redundant gate pads 84 and a plurality of redundant datapads 86 are respectively formed on the gate pads 24 and the data pads 64and connected to them through the contact holes 72 and 73. Since theseredundant pads 84 and 86 protect the pads 24 and 64 and complement thecontacts between the external circuitry and the pads 24 and 64, they areoptional.

In this embodiment, a transparent ITO layer is used for the pixelelectrode 82, but an opaque-conductive material may be used in areflective type LCD.

Now, a manufacturing method of a TFT array panel according to anembodiment of the present invention will be described with reference toFIGS. 6A to 13B as well as FIGS. 3 to 5.

First, as shown in FIGS. 6A to 6C, a conductor layer of metal with thethickness of 1,000 Å to 3,000 Å is deposited on a substrate 10 bysputtering, and a gate wire including a plurality of gate lines 22, gatepads 24 and gate electrodes 26 are formed by dry or wet etch using afirst photolithography step.

Next, as shown in FIGS. 7A and 7B, a gate insulating layer 30, asemiconductor layer 40 and an ohmic contact layer 50 with the respectivethickness of 1,500 Å to 5,000 Å, 500 Å to 2,000 Å and 300 Å to 600 Å aresequentially deposited by such a method as chemical vapor deposition(CVD). Then, a conductor layer 60 of metal with the thickness of 1,500 Åto 3,000 Å is deposited by such a method as sputtering. The conductorlayer 60 and the ohmic contact layer 50 thereunder are patterned to formdata wire elements including data lines 62, data pads 64 and sourceelectrodes 65, and first portions 55 of the ohmic contact layer 50thereunder, drain electrodes 66 and second portions 56 of the ohmiccontact layer pattern thereunder, and a conductor pattern 68 for storagecapacitance and third portions 58 of the ohmic contact layer patternthereunder by a second photolithography step.

As shown in FIGS. 8A, 13A and 13B, a passivation layer 70 with athickness over 3,000 Å is deposited by CVD of SiNx or spin coated usingorganic insulator. Then, the passivation layer 70, the semiconductorlayer 40 and the gate insulating layer 30 are patterned to form theirpatterns having contact holes 71, 72 and 73 by a third photolithographystep. At this time, the portions of the passivation layer 70, thesemiconductor layer 40 and the gate insulating layer 30 in theperipheral area P are removed (and the portions of the passivation layer70 on the data pads 64 are also removed). However, in the display areaonly the portions of the passivation layer 70 and the semiconductorlayer 40 is removed (and the portions of the passivation layer 70 on thedrain electrodes 66 are also removed) to form a semiconductor pattern.For this purpose, a photoresist (PR) pattern is formed to have thicknessthat varies depending on the location, and the layers under the PRpattern are dry etched by using the PR pattern as an etch mask. It willbe described with reference to FIGS. 8B to 12A.

At first, a positive PR layer is coated to a thickness of 5,000 Å to30,000 Å on the passivation layer 70, and exposed to light through amask or masks 300, 410 and 420. The PR layer of the display area D, asshown in FIGS. 8B and 8C, is different from that of the peripheral areaP. Polymers in regions C, the PR layer in the display area D, areexposed to the light and resolved to a certain depth, remaining intactbeyond that depth. However, polymers in regions B the PR layer in theperipheral area P, are exposed to the light and wholly resolved from thesurface to the bottom. The portions of the passivation layer 70 in theregions C and B are subject to being removed.

For this purpose, a mask portion 300 for the display area D may havestructures different from mask portions 410 and 420 for the peripheralarea P. Three such examples will be described with reference to FIGS. 9Ato 11.

The first and second examples use two pieces of photomasks for thedisplay area D and the peripheral area P.

First, as shown in FIGS. 9A and 9B, masks 300 and 400 include masksubstrates 310 and 410, opaque pattern layers 320 and 420 of suchmaterial as Cr thereon, and pellicles 330 and 430 covering the opaquepattern layer 320 and 420 and the exposed portions of the substrates 310and 410 respectively. The light transmittance of the pellicle 330 of themask 300 for the display area D is lower than that of the mask 400 forthe peripheral area P. It is preferable that the light transmittance ofthe pellicle 330 is 10% to 80% of that of the pellicle 430, morepreferably 20% to 60%.

Next, as shown in FIGS. 10A and 10B, a Cr layer 350 with a thickness of100 Å to 300 Å is formed on a mask substrate 310 of a mask 300 for thedisplay area D to reduce the light transmittance, while there is no Crlayer in a mask 400 for the peripheral area P. The light transmittanceof a pellicle 340 of the mask 300 may be equal to that of a pellicle 430of the mask 400.

A mixed structure of the above two may be available.

Above two examples are available for a divide-and-exposure method usinga stepper, since the mask 300 for the display area D and the mask 400for the peripheral area P are made of separate pieces. In the meantime,the thickness of the PR layer may be controlled by adjusting theexposure time.

However, the display area D and the peripheral area P may be exposed tolight through a single mask. A structure of such a mask will bedescribed with reference to FIG. 11. As shown in FIG. 11, atransmittance controlling layer 550 is formed on a substrate 510 for aphotomask 500, and a pattern layer 520 is formed on the transmittancecontrolling layer 510. The transmittance controlling layer 550 isprovided not only under the pattern layer 520 but also in the wholedisplay area D, while only under the pattern layer 520 in the peripheralarea P.

As a result, at least two patterns, one having the transmittancecontrolling layer 510 and the other having the double layer of thepattern layer 520 and the transmittance controlling layer 510, withdifferent thickness are formed on the substrate 510. A transmittancecontrolling layer may be provided in the area for the peripheral area P.At this time, the transmittance of the transmittance controlling layerfor the peripheral area P should be higher than that for the displayarea D.

To manufacture a photomask 500 having the transmittance controllinglayer 550, the transmittance controlling layer 550 and a pattern layer520 that has an etch ratio different from the transmittance controllinglayer 550 are sequentially deposited on the substrate 500. A PR layer(not shown) is coated on the pattern layer 520, exposed to light anddeveloped. Then the pattern layer 520 is etched by using the PR layer asan etch mask. After removing the remaining PR layer, a new PR layerpattern (not shown) exposing portions of the transmittance controllinglayer 550 that corresponds to contact holes of the peripheral area P isformed. Then, the transmittance controlling layer 550 is etched tocomplete the photomask 500.

In another way, the transmittance may be changed depending on positionby using a mask that has slits or a grid pattern smaller than theresolution of the exposure equipment.

Meanwhile, portions of PR layer over the metal patterns such as the gatewire 22, 24 and 26 and the data wire 62, 64, 65, 66 and 68 having a highreflectivity may be exposed to more lights than other portions. Toprevent this problem, a layer to block the reflected light by the metalpatterns may be provided or a colored PR may be used.

The PR layer shown in FIG. 8B and 8C is exposed to light by the abovedescribed method, and developed to form a PR pattern shown in FIGS. 12Aand 12B. In concrete, there is no PR remaining over a portion of thegate pad 24 and a portion of the data pad 64. Thick portion of the PRpattern in the region A are located in the peripheral area P except forthe gate pad 24 and the data pad 64, and located over the data wireelements 62, 64 and 65, the drain electrode 66 and the portion of thesemiconductor layer 40 between the data wire parts 62, 64 and 65 and thedrain electrode 66 in the display area D. Thin portion of the PR patternin the region C is located over a portion of the drain electrode 66 andthe remaining portion of the display area D. The portion of PR patternon the drain electrode 66 may be entirely removed. Furthermore, the thinportion of the PR pattern may also be located on the data pad 64 of theperipheral area P.

At this time, it is preferable that the thickness of the thin portionsis ¼ to 1/7 of the initial thickness, in other words 350 Å 10,000 Å, andmore preferably 1,000 Å to 6,000 Å. For example, when the initialthickness of the PR layer is 16,000 Å to 24,000 Å, the thin portion mayhave thickness of 3,000 Å to 7,000 Å by setting the transmittance forthe display area D to 30%. However, since the thickness of the PRpattern should be determined by the dry etch condition, thetransmittance of the pellicles, the thickness of the Cr layer, thetransmittance of the transmittance controlling layer and the exposuretime, etc., should be controlled depending on the etch condition.

The thin portion of the PR pattern may be formed by reflow after anormal exposure and a normal development.

Then, the PR pattern and the underlayers, i.e., the passivation layer70, the semiconductor layer 40 and the gate insulating layer 30 are dryetched.

At this time, as described above, the portions of the PR pattern in theregion A should remain, and the portions of the passivation layer 70,the semiconductor layer 40 and the gate insulating layer 30 in theregion B should be removed. The portions of the passivation layer 70 andthe semiconductor layer 40 in the region C should be removed, while theportions of the gate insulating layer 30 in the region C should remain.In addition, only the portions of the passivation layer 70 on the drainelectrodes 66 in the region C are removed.

For this purpose, it is preferable to use a dry etch that may etch outthe PR pattern along with the underlayers. As shown in FIGS. 13A and13B, the three layers in region B of, the passivation layer 70, thesemiconductor layer 40 and the gate insulating layer 30, and the threelayers in region C of, the thin portions of the PR pattern, thepassivation layer 70 and the semiconductor layer 40, may be etched at atime by dry etch.

Meanwhile, since the portions of the conductor layer 60 that will form adrain electrode 66 in the display area D, a data pad of the peripheralarea P and a conductor pattern 68 for storage capacitors should not beremoved, the etch condition should be set to have an etch selectivityagainst the conductor pattern 60. The thick portions of the PR patternin the region A are also etched away to a certain depth.

In the meantime, the thin portions of the PR pattern may have anon-uniform thickness, the semiconductor layer 40 may remain to someextents on the gate insulating layer 30 in the region C. To prevent thisproblem, the PR pattern and the layers thereunder may be etched throughseveral steps. It will be described in detail.

At first, as shown in FIGS. 14A and 14B, the portions, which are notcovered with the PR pattern, of the passivation layer 70 and the layersthereunder, that is the semiconductor layer 40 and the gate insulatinglayer 30, are etched to expose the data pad 64. If there is no PR leftover the drain electrode 66 in the previous step, the drain electrode 66is also exposed at this time. However, the thin portions of the PRpattern may remain to a certain thickness enough not to expose thepassivation layer 70 in the region C by controlling the etching amountof PR. This can be achieved by making the thin portions of the PRpattern in the region C to have an enough thickness in the previousstep. The portions of the gate insulating layer 30 may be entirelyremoved or remain to a certain thickness as shown in FIG. 14A. At thistime, etch gas mixtures such as SF₆+HCl or SF₆+N₂ are used.

Next, as shown in FIGS. 15A and 15B, the residues of the PR pattern onthe passivation layer 70 in the region C are removed by ashing process.At this time, the ashing process is performed for a period enough toremove the residual PR in the region C completely. It is preferable thatthe gas mixtures such as N₂+O₂ or Ar+O₂ are used for this ashingprocess.

Then, as shown in FIGS. 16A and 16B, the exposed portions of thepassivation layer 70 and the gate insulating layer 30 are removed toexpose the semiconductor layer 40 in the display area D, the drainelectrode 66 and the gate pad 24 by using the PR layer pattern as a maskand using an etch condition, which has a high etch selectivity betweenthe semiconductor layer 40 and the gate insulating layer 30 and thepassivation layer 70. At this time, to achieve an etch condition with ahigh etch selectivity, it is preferable that the etch gas mixtures haveenough O₂ or CF₄. Examples of such gases are SF₆+N₂, SF₆+O₂, CF₄+O₂ andCF₄+CHF₃+O₂. The data pad 66 is expose this step, when the thin portionof the PR pattern was also formed on the data pad 66 as described above.

Next, as shown in FIGS. 17A and 17B, the exposed portions of thesemiconductor layer 40 are etched to complete the semiconductor pattern42 and 48 by using an etch condition that only etches amorphous silicon.At this time, it is preferable that etch gas systems such as Cl₂+O₂ andSF₆+HCl+O₂+Ar are used for this etching step.

The above embodiments remove the passivation layer 70 and thesemiconductor layer 40 along with the gate insulating layer 30 to formthe contact hole 71 and the semiconductor pattern 42 and 48 in thedisplay area D, and remove the passivation layer 70, the semiconductorlayer 40 and the gate insulating layer 30 to form contact holes 72 and73 by only one photolithography step.

The PR of the region A is also stripped when removing the PR pattern ofthe region C by the ashing process, and the passivation layer 70 and thesemiconductor layer 40 are etched out at this time. To prevent thepassivation layer 70 from being exposed or removed by overetch of the PRlayer, it is preferable that the PR layer is coated to a thicknessenough not to be overetched or an etch condition having a high etchselectivity between the PR layer and the semiconductor layer 40 orbetween the PR layer and the passivation layer 70.

Next, the remaining PR pattern of the region A is removed. Then, asshown in FIGS. 3 to 5, a ITO layer with a thickness of 400 Å to 500 Å isdeposited and etched to form a pixel electrode 82, a redundant gate pad84 and the redundant data pad 86 by using a fourth photolithographystep.

In the above described embodiment, the passivation layer 70, thesemiconductor layer 40 and the gate insulating layer 30 are etched alongwith the PR pattern having a thickness that varies depending on thelocations after forming the PR pattern through coating, exposure anddevelopment. However, the passivation layer 70 may be formed with aphoto-sensitive material such as product code PC 403 supplied by JSR Co.of Japan. Then, the passivation layer 70 is patterned through exposureand development to have a different thickness according to the location,and the semiconductor layer 40 and the gate insulating layer 30 areetched along with the passivation layer 70. According to this method,the PR coating step and the PR stripping step may be omitted.

In this embodiment, there is no PR left in the region B. However, theregion B may have a portion of the PR pattern that is thinner than thoseof the PR patterns in the A and C regions. In this case, the portion inthe region B may be removed by ashing. In addition, the three portionsof the PR pattern may be located wherever that is necessary by changingthe positions of the transmittance controlling layers of the photomaskor the photomasks.

A TFT array panel according to a second embodiment of the presentinvention will be described.

FIG. 18 is a layout view of a TFT array panel for an LCD according to asecond embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 19 is across-sectional view taken along the line XIX-XIX′ in FIG. 18.

The TFT array panel according to the second embodiment is almost thesame as that of the first embodiment except that no portions of asemiconductor layer pattern 42 and a passivation layer pattern 70 arelocated in the peripheral area P. In other word, only a gate insulatinglayer 30 having a contact hole 72 exposing a gate pad 30 is formed inthe peripheral area P. Therefore, a redundant gate pad 84 is formed onthe gate insulating layer 30 and connected to the gate pad 24 throughthe contact hole 72, and a redundant data pad 86 is formed directly on adata pad 64.

Meanwhile, the gate insulating layer 30 may also be removed in theperipheral area P. Therefore, the redundant gate pad 84 may be formeddirectly on the gate pad 24.

Now, a method of manufacturing a TFT array panel according to the secondembodiment of the present invention will be described with reference toFIGS. 20A to 22 as well as FIGS. 18 and 19.

The steps of forming gate wire 22, 24 and 26, sequential deposition of agate insulating layer 30, a semiconductor layer 40, ohmic contact layer50 and a conductor layer 60, and patterning the conductor layer 40 andthe ohmic contact layer 50 to form a data wire 62, 64, 65 and 66 and aconductor pattern 68 for storage capacitor and an ohmic contact layerpattern 55, 56 and 58 thereunder are similar to that of the firstembodiment.

As shown in FIGS. 20A and 22, a passivation layer 70 with a thicknessover 3,000 Å is deposited by CVD of SiNx or spin coated using organicinsulator. Then, the passivation layer 70, the semiconductor layer 40and the gate insulating layer 30 are patterned to form their patternshaving contact holes 71 and 72 by a third photolithography step. At thistime, in the peripheral area P, the portions of the passivation layer70, the semiconductor layer 40 and the gate insulating layer 30 on thegate pad 24 and the other portions of the passivation layer 70 and thesemiconductor layer 40 are removed (and the portions of the passivationlayer 70 on the data pads 64 are also removed). However, in the displayarea, only the portions of the passivation layer 70 and thesemiconductor layer 40 are removed (and the portions of the passivationlayer 70 on the drain electrodes 66 are also removed) to form asemiconductor pattern. For this purpose, as described in the firstembodiment, a photoresist (PR) pattern is formed to have a thicknessthat varies depending on the location, and the layers under the PRpattern are dry etched by using the PR pattern as an etch mask.

The method of forming the PR pattern having a thickness that variesdepending on the location is the same as that of the first embodiment.However, the shape of the PR pattern is different from that of the firstembodiment. In other word, in the peripheral area P, the PR pattern hasthe portion B having zero thickness and the portion C having thinthickness as shown in FIG. 21.

The process of etching the passivation layer 70, the semiconductor layer40 and gate insulating layer 30 by using the PR pattern as an etch-maskis also the same as that of the first embodiment.

Now, the photolithography method used in the above described embodimentwill be described in detail.

FIGS. 23A to 23E are cross sectional views of thin films manufactured bya photolithography method according to an embodiment of the presentinvention.

At first,.as shown in FIG. 23A, a first and a second thin film 210 and220 are sequentially deposited on a substrate 100. The first and thesecond thin film 210 and 220 are the films that will be patterned by thepresent photolithography method, and are corresponding to those like thepassivation layer, the semiconductor layer and the insulating layer inthe above described embodiment.

Next, as shown in FIG. 23B and described above, a PR layer is coated,exposed by using a photomask or photomasks having a transmittancevarying depending on the position and developed to form a PR patternhaving thickness varying depending on the location. In FIG. 18B, theportion of the PR layer in the region B is entirely removed and theportion in the region C is stripped to have a thinner thickness than theportion A.

Next, as shown in FIG. 23C, the second thin film 220 is etched by usingthe PR pattern as etch mask. At this time, according to the etchcondition, the PR pattern may also be etched to a certain degree, but itis preferable that the thin portion of the PR pattern in the region Cremains to a certain thickness in order to control the etching depthprecisely. However, the thin portion of the PR pattern and the secondthin film 220 thereunder in the region C, and the first thin film 210 inthe region B may be etched at a time under an etch condition where theetch ratio for the PR pattern is similar to that for the thin films 210and 220.

Next, as shown in FIG. 23D, the residual PR in the region C is removedby ashing. The etching gas should be selected so that the etch ratio forthe PR pattern is sufficiently larger than that for the thin films 210and 220. N₂+O₂ and Ar+O₂ are examples of such etching gas mixtures. Inaddition, the ashing is performed for a period enough to remove the thinportion of PR completely. However, the thick portions of the PR patternin the region A should remain to a certain thickness, since the thickportions serve as an etch mask in the following step of etching thinfilms 210 and 220.

Next, the exposed portion of the first thin film 210 in the region B andthe exposed portion of the second thin film 220 in the region C areetched by using the remaining PR pattern as an etch mask.

In this embodiment, the two thin films 210 and 220 are deposited, andthe portions of both thin film 210 and 220 in the region B are removedwhile the portion of only the upper film 220 in the region C is removedby using a single photolithography step. However, according to thepresent invention, a thin film may be patterned to have etch depths thatvary according to the location.

In this embodiment, the gate insulating layer pattern 30 having thecontact holes 72 exposing the gate pads 24 is formed along with thepassivation layer pattern 70 and the semiconductor layer pattern 42 and48 by one photolithography step. However, the gate insulating layerpattern 30 may be patterned along with at least any one layer among thesemiconductor pattern, the ohmic contact layer pattern, the data wire,the passivation layer pattern and the pixel electrodes. In particular,the present invention is useful for patterning a thin film or filmsusing dry etch.

Though, in the present embodiment, the pixel electrode is formed in awide planar shape, but it may be formed in a linear shape. Furthermore,a common electrode that drives liquid crystal molecules along with thepixel electrode may be formed on the same substrate as the pixelelectrode.

According to the present invention, the manufacturing method may besimplified by reducing the manufacturing steps, thereby reducing themanufacturing cost and enhancing the yield. Furthermore, it is possibleto etch a wide area of layer to a variant thickness depending on thelocation at the same time and to achieve a uniform thickness where alayer should remain to a certain thickness.

In the drawings and specification, there have been disclosed typicalpreferred embodiments of the present invention and, although specificterms are employed, they are used in a generic and descriptive senseonly and not for purposes of limitation, the scope of the inventionbeing set forth in the following claims.

1-45. (canceled)
 46. A thin film transistor (TFT) array panel, comprising: a substrate; a gate wire formed on the substrate and including a gate line, a gate electrode and a gate pad and; a gate insulating layer pattern formed on the gate wire and having a contact hole exposing the gate pad; a semiconductor layer pattern formed on the gate insulating layer pattern; an ohmic contact layer pattern formed on the semiconductor layer pattern; a data wire formed on the ohmic contact layer pattern, including a data line, a source electrode, a drain electrode and a data pad, and having a boundary line substantially the same as that of the ohmic contact layer pattern; a passivation layer pattern formed on the data wire, having contact holes exposing the gate pad, the data pad and the drain electrode; and a pixel electrode electrically connected to the exposed portion of the drain electrode, wherein the gate insulating layer pattern is formed along with at least one of the semiconductor pattern, the ohmic contact layer pattern, the data wire, the passivation layer pattern and the pixel electrode through a single photolithography process using a photoresist pattern having more than two different thickness that varies depending on positions.
 47. The TFT array panel of claim 46, further comprising a storage electrode formed over the gate line, wherein the semiconductor layer pattern and the ohmic contact layer pattern have a portion interposed between the storage electrode and the gate line, and the storage electrode is connected to the pixel electrode.
 48. The TFT array panel of claim 46, wherein the passivation layer pattern has a boundary line substantially the same as that of the semiconductor layer pattern except for portions adjoining the drain electrode and the data pad, having a width greater than that of the data wire, and covering a boundary line of the data wire;
 49. The TFT array panel of claim 46, wherein a portion of the pixel electrode is in direct contact with the gate insulating layer pattern.
 50. The TFT array panel of claim 46, wherein the gate insulating layer pattern has a shape different from that of the passivation layer pattern under the pixel electrode.
 51. The TFT array panel of claim 46, further comprising a redundant gate pad and a redundant data pad covering the gate pad and the data pad, respectively.
 52. A thin film transistor (TFT) array panel, comprising: a substrate; a gate wire formed on the substrate and including a gate line, a gate electrode and a gate pad; a gate insulating layer pattern formed on the gate wire and having a contact hole exposing the gate pad; a semiconductor layer pattern formed on the gate insulating layer pattern; an ohmic contact layer pattern formed on the semiconductor layer pattern; a data wire formed on the ohmic contact layer pattern, including a data line, a source electrode, a drain electrode and a data pad, and having a planar shape substantially the same as that of the ohmic contact layer pattern due to simultaneous etching; a passivation layer pattern formed on the data wire, having contact holes exposing the gate pad, the data pad and the drain electrode; and a pixel electrode electrically connected to the exposed portion of the drain electrode.
 53. The TFT array panel of claim 52, further comprising a storage electrode formed over the gate line, wherein the semiconductor layer pattern and the ohmic contact layer pattern have a portion interposed between the storage electrode and the gate line, and the storage electrode is connected to the pixel electrode.
 54. The TFT array panel of claim 52, wherein the passivation layer pattern has a boundary line substantially the same as that of the semiconductor layer pattern except for portions adjoining the drain electrode and the data pad, having a width greater than that of the data wire, and covering a boundary line of the data wire.
 55. The TFT array panel of claim 52, wherein a portion of the pixel electrode is in direct contact with the gate insulating layer pattern.
 56. The TFT array panel of claim 52, wherein the gate insulating layer pattern has a shape different from that of the passivation layer pattern under the pixel electrode.
 57. The TFT array panel of claim 52, further comprising a redundant gate pad and a redundant data pad covering the gate pad and the data pad, respectively. 